Learn How To House Train Your Dog

Prevent those little 'accidents'!

House Training Your Dog

Housetraining can be most easily achieved through a combination of rewarding your dog for eliminating in the correct ‘spot’ and strictly supervising his access in your home in order to minimize ‘accidents’.

There are 4 key elements to housetraining any dog:

A solid history of your dog being rewarded when he eliminates in the correct spot.
A crate/confinement area used in an appropriate manner.
Good observation skills.
Schedule – regular trips to potty area and regular feeding/watering.

How to:

1. Accompany your dog to his ‘spot’ on the lead outside approximately every 3 hours depending on your dogs’ age and bladder control. Give him ONLY 5 minutes, ignoring your dog until he urinates/defecates, then PRAISE and reward him with 3 SMALL TREATS IMMEDIATELY on the spot.

What if he doesn’t go?

2. If he doesn’t potty within the allotted time, take him back inside. Since he has a ‘full tank’ he should not be permitted to roam the house. Instead, he should be tethered directly next to you, or returned to his crate for 30 minutes.

3. Return to the ‘spot’ every 15-30 minutes until he potties. Then you have approximately 3 hours (depending on age) of ‘safe’ time. He still must be supervised in the same room as you.

What do I do when I am not home?

4. When you are leaving the house, here are your options.

(i) He should be confined to a crate (short term confinement).
(ii) If you have a very young puppy (younger than 16 weeks) and he hasn’t built up sufficient bladder control confine him to a puppy proofed room/area (long term confinement) and provide him with a legal bathroom, i.e. wee-wee pads where he can relieve himself.
(iii) Have a friend/neighbour stop by and bring your dog outside to potty if you are crating your dog for longer than 4 hours.

The crate is used for short periods and overnight if he has sufficient bladder control.

5. Observing Your Dog
Watch for subtle signs that he may need to relieve himself. It’s imperative that you learn what these are so you can prevent him from having accidents indoors. Common behaviours include circling, restlessness and sniffing. Whenever you witness these, escort your dog outside to go to toilet.

6. Keep a Diary
It is most useful to keep a diary as doing so will make it easier to determine if a trend is emerging with the housetraining process and how your dogs’ habits are improving. Keep a note of how long your dog waited between toileting and at what times your dog was fed and when he drank water.

7. Regular Schedule
You must provide your dog with a set schedule for eating and for trips to the bathroom. Stick to set times early on in the housetraining process and adopt a more casual schedule only when you see significant improvement.

8. Eliminate Odour
Using a household cleaner will not FULLY remove the scent of urine/faeces. To clean up, use an enzymatic cleaner such as ‘Simple Solution’ or ‘Four Paws’ brands available at most big pet shops. These products are specifically formulated to eliminate the scent that triggers your dog to toilet.